Dr Cate Paull joined CSIRO in November 2010. Her research interests include insect behaviour, population and community ecology, with special emphasis on using ecological concepts in the application of classical and conservation biological control of agricultural pests.

Dr Paull is currently researching how Helicoverpa spp., pests of cotton and grain crops, respond to landscape structure. This is relevant to determining how the composition, configuration and proportion of different land uses, including crops, influence pest populations, such as refuge crops and the way they impact on the development of resistance in Helicoverpa spp. against Bt cotton.